Apparatus and method for determining short-term driving tendency

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and a method determines a short-term driving tendency. The apparatus may include a driving information collecting unit configured to collect driving information including a vehicle speed, and an inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle of the driver and a forward vehicle, a short-term driving tendency calculating module configured to receive a plurality of input variables for determining the short-term driving tendency and calculate a short-term driving tendency index using a fuzzy control theory, and a calculation prohibition control module configured to check the inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle of the driver and the forward vehicle and prohibit calculation of the short-term driving tendency index when the inter-vehicle distance is equal to or less than a predetermined reference value.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority of Korean Patent ApplicationNumber 10-2013-0065505 filed on Jun. 7, 2013, the entire contents ofwhich application are incorporated herein for all purposes by thisreference.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method fordetermining a short-term driving tendency of a vehicle driver, and moreparticularly, to an apparatus and a method for determining a short-termdriving tendency which restrict determination of the short-term drivingtendency in a running condition in which it is impossible to accuratelydetermine the short-term driving tendency.

2. Description of Related Art

In general, drivers, who drive vehicles, have different and variousdriving tendencies, respectively. For example, like a driver who drivesa vehicle at a high average running speed, a driver using lowacceleration and deceleration characteristics compared to other drivers,a driver who performs fuel-efficient driving, or a driver who drives avehicle over a long distance on a highway mainly on weekends, driversmay have the many different driving tendencies.

Satisfaction of customers regarding running performance of a vehicledepends on how the vehicle runs and coincides with a driving tendency ofthe driver, but because the premade vehicles generally havepredetermined uniform performance characteristics, there is a drawbackin that various driving tendencies of the customers are not reflected.Therefore, in recent years, researches on vehicle control technologiesbased on a driving tendency of the driver, which recognizes the drivingtendency of the driver and allows the vehicle to respond suitably to thedriving tendency of the driver, are being actively conducted.

In order to provide the vehicle control technology based on the drivingtendency of the driver, first, it is very important to accuratelydetermine the driving tendency of the driver. Meanwhile, in the relatedart, in order to determine an acceleration driving tendency of thedriver, a method of calculating the driving tendency of the driver usinga specific condition (for example, APS, or AAPS) has been developed.

However, in the method of calculating the driving tendency in therelated art, matching results are obtained in a case in which there areno obstacles in front of the vehicle that is being driven, but there isa problem in that it is impossible to recognize a driving tendency ofthe driver because a vehicle speed is associated with a speed of theforward vehicle regardless of the driving tendency of the driver whenthe vehicle of the driver follows the forward vehicle running slowly.

In addition, in a case in which the driving tendency of the driver iscontinuously calculated in a situation in which the vehicle of thedriver is affected by the forward vehicle, since the driving tendency ofthe driver is moved toward a mild direction, there is a problem in thatan inaccurate tendency determination numeric value is obtained.

Therefore, in order to provide the vehicle control technology based onthe driving tendency of the driver, which shows high satisfaction, amethod capable of more accurately determining the driving tendency ofthe driver is acutely required.

The information disclosed in this Background section is only forenhancement of understanding of the general background of the inventionand should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestionthat this information forms the prior art already known to a personskilled in the art.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention has been made in an effort to provide an apparatusand a method for determining a short-term driving tendency whichrestrict determination of the short-term driving tendency in a specificdriving condition in which it is impossible to accurately determine theshort-term driving tendency when a vehicle is driven.

Various aspects of the present invention provide an apparatus fordetermining a short-term driving tendency of a driver according todriving a vehicle, including: a driving information collecting unitconfigured to collect driving information including a vehicle speed, andan inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle of the driver and aforward vehicle; a short-term driving tendency calculating moduleconfigured to receive a plurality of input variables for determining theshort-term driving tendency and calculate a short-term driving tendencyindex using a fuzzy control theory; and a calculation prohibitioncontrol module configured to check the inter-vehicle distance betweenthe vehicle of the driver and the forward vehicle and prohibitcalculation of the short-term driving tendency index when theinter-vehicle distance is equal to or less than a predeterminedreference value.

The calculation prohibition control module may set an inter-vehicledistance reference map in which the predetermined reference valueincreases proportionally to the vehicle speed, determine aninter-vehicle distance condition for the vehicle speed, and transmit acalculation prohibition request signal to the short-term drivingtendency calculating module when the inter-vehicle distance condition issatisfied in which the inter-vehicle distance is equal to or less thanthe predetermined reference value.

The driving information may further include at least one of vehicleacceleration according to driving the vehicle by the driver, anaccelerator pedal position, a brake pedal position, a shift-speed, asteering state of the vehicle, position information based on a GPS/GIS,road information, a degree of congestion of a driving section, andweather information.

The short-term driving tendency calculating module may apply the fuzzycontrol theory to the vehicle speed and the inter-vehicle distance, setat least one membership function for each of the vehicle speed and theinter-vehicle distance, and calculate the short-term driving tendencyindex, which is a fuzzy result value, from the membership function ofthe inputted vehicle speed and the inputted inter-vehicle distance fromthe forward vehicle.

The short-term driving tendency calculating module, based on amembership function of the inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle ofthe driver and the forward vehicle and a membership function of thevehicle speed, may determine that the driver has a mild driving tendencywhen the vehicle speed is equal to or less than a first predeterminedvehicle speed and the inter-vehicle distance is equal to or greater thana first predetermined distance, and determine that the driver has asporty driving tendency when the vehicle speed is greater than a secondpredetermined vehicle speed and the inter-vehicle distance is less thana second predetermined distance.

The calculation prohibition control module may prohibit calculation ofthe short-term driving tendency index when a road on which the vehicleruns is in a specific road state.

Various other aspects of the present invention provide a method ofdetermining a short-term driving tendency of a driver according todriving a vehicle, including: receiving a plurality of input variablesfor determining the short-term driving tendency and detecting aninter-vehicle distance between the vehicle of the driver and a forwardvehicle from the plurality of input variables; determining whether theinter-vehicle distance satisfies a short-term driving tendency indexcalculation prohibition condition in which the inter-vehicle distance isequal to or less than a predetermined reference value; and prohibitingcalculation of a short-term driving tendency index of the driver whenthe inter-vehicle distance satisfies the short-term driving tendencyindex calculation prohibition condition.

The method may further include a vehicle speed from the plurality ofinput variables, wherein the predetermined reference value increasesproportionally to the vehicle speed. In addition, the method may furtherinclude initiating, prior to the detecting of the inter-vehicledistance, calculation of the short-term driving tendency index when anaccumulated running time or running distance reaches a predeterminedcondition for initiating the calculation of the short-term drivingtendency index after the vehicle is started.

In addition, the method may further include the short-term drivingtendency index of the driver when the inter-vehicle distance does notsatisfy the short-term driving tendency calculation prohibitioncondition, wherein the calculating of the short-term driving tendencyindex, which corresponds to a mild or sporty driving tendency, isconducted by calculating a fuzzy result value from at least onemembership function for each of the vehicle speed and the inter-vehicledistance from the forward vehicle.

Still various other aspects of the present invention provide a method ofdetermining a short-term driving tendency of a driver according todriving a vehicle, including: receiving a plurality of input variablesfor determining the short-term driving tendency and detecting roadinformation according to a vehicle position from the plurality of inputvariables; determining, based on the road information, whether a load isin a specific road state for prohibiting calculation of a short-termdriving tendency index; and prohibiting the calculation of theshort-term driving tendency index of the driver when the road is in thespecific road state. The specific road state may include at least one ofa snowy road, an icy road, a predetermined curved road, a predeterminedslope road, a foggy road, and an unpaved road.

The methods and apparatuses of the present invention have other featuresand advantages which will be apparent from or are set forth in moredetail in the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, andthe following Detailed Description, which together serve to explaincertain principles of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration ofan exemplary vehicle control system based on a driving tendencyaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration ofan exemplary short-term driving tendency determining unit according tothe present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of restrictingdetermination of a short-term driving tendency according to the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of thepresent invention(s), examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and described below. While the invention(s) willbe described in conjunction with exemplary embodiments, it will beunderstood that present description is not intended to limit theinvention(s) to those exemplary embodiments. On the contrary, theinvention(s) is/are intended to cover not only the exemplaryembodiments, but also various alternatives, modifications, equivalentsand other embodiments, which may be included within the spirit and scopeof the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded asillustrative in nature and not restrictive. Like reference numeralsdesignate like elements throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification and the claims, unless explicitly describedto the contrary, the word “comprise” and variations such as “comprises”or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of statedelements but not the exclusion of any other elements. In addition, theterms “-er”, “-or” and “module” described in the specification meanunits for processing at least one function and operation and can beimplemented by hardware components or software components andcombinations thereof.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration ofa vehicle control system based on a driving tendency according tovarious embodiments of the present invention. Referring to theaccompanying FIG. 1, a vehicle control system based on a drivingtendency includes a driving information collecting unit 100, a drivingtendency analyzing unit 200, and a running mode determining unit 300.

The driving information collecting unit 100 detects vehicle drivinginformation that is a basis for determining a driving tendency of adriver, and to this end, the driving information collecting unit 100 isconnected to various sensors, controllers, and devices through aninternal network of a vehicle. In some cases, an external network may beused.

The driving information collecting unit 100 may collect drivinginformation in conjunction with at least one of a vehicle speed sensor11, an acceleration sensor 12, an inter-vehicle distance sensor 13, anaccelerator pedal position sensor 14, a brake pedal position sensor 15,a TCU 16, a steering wheel sensor 17, a vehicle position sensor(GPS/GIS) 18, and a telematics 19.

The driving information collecting unit 100 collects vehicle speed usingthe vehicle speed sensor 11, collects acceleration of the vehicle usingthe acceleration sensor 12, and collects inter-vehicle distances with aforward vehicle using the inter-vehicle distance sensor 13. Here, theinter-vehicle distance sensor 13 may sense a relative distance betweenthe forward vehicle and the present vehicle by utilizing forward radarsignals, and additionally, at least one of an infrared sensor and anultrasonic wave sensor may be used as the inter-vehicle distance sensor13.

The driving information collecting unit 100 collects an accelerationpattern operation state of the driver using the accelerator pedalposition sensor 14, and collects a brake operation state using the brakepedal position sensor 15. Here, it is possible to detect accelerationand deceleration tendencies of the driver using operation patterns ofthe accelerator pedal position sensor 14 and the brake pedal positionsensor 15.

The driving information collecting unit 100 collects shift-speeds usingthe transmission control unit (TCU) 16, and collects steering states ofthe vehicle using the steering wheel sensor 17.

The driving information collecting unit 100 may collect vehicle positioninformation based on the GPS/GIS and information on a road type, adegree of curve, and a degree of slope, using the vehicle positionsensor 18, and collect a degree of congestion and weather information(for example, a snowy road, a rainy road, or a foggy road) of a drivingsection using the telematics 19.

Here, the telematics 19 refers to a terminal in which functions of amobile telematics system (MTS) terminal, which is called a MOZEN, a carubiquitous system (CUbiS) terminal, which is called an auto care, a bluelink (emergency situation service), and a navigation terminal areintegrated, and supports wireless network communication (for example, 3Gor 4G) of the vehicle.

The driving tendency analyzing unit 200 determines the driving tendencyof the driver by analyzing the vehicle driving information of thedriver, which is collected by the driving information collecting unit100, and includes a long-term driving tendency determining unit 210, ashort-term driving tendency determining unit 220, and a real time roadcondition determining unit 230.

The long-term driving tendency determining unit 210 accumulates thevehicle driving information of the driver for a predetermined longperiod or by a predetermined number of driving times, calculates along-term driving tendency index with a probability value based onnormal distribution by comparing and analyzing an average value of theaccumulated driving information, and reflects the long-term drivingtendency index to a typical driving tendency.

Meanwhile, the tendency of the driver is not always uniform, and may bechanged in accordance with changes of the mood of the driver, suddenchanges in driving intention, a road condition, or the like.

The short-term driving tendency determining unit 220 according tovarious embodiments of the present invention calculates a short-termdriving tendency index for determining a short-term driving intention ofthe driver as an objective numeric value using a fuzzy control theory.

Here, the short-term driving tendency has a meaning compared to thelong-term driving tendency, and is a reference for determining thedriver's sudden intention to accelerate and decelerate the vehicle. Thatis, a real time driving tendency of the driver is objectified byquantitatively digitizing a driving operation form that is shown by acomparatively short time unit in comparison with the long-term drivingtendency. The short-term driving tendency may be utilized as a referencevalue for automatically converting control factors, which are involvedin the feel of acceleration, fuel consumption, the feel of shifting, andthe like, for an optimal driving condition.

The real time road condition determining unit 230 analyzes a curvedroad, a slope road, a congested road, a highway, a snowy road, or thelike according to the weather information, which affect the vehicledriving, and the vehicle position information based on the GPS/GIS.Here, the analyzed real time road condition may be reflected todetermine a running mode according to a tendency of a customer.

The running mode determining unit 300 investigates a preferred patternfor each driving tendency of the driver, and determines an optimalrunning mode by reflecting a typical long-term driving tendency. Forexample, the running mode determining unit 300 may determine aneco-drive mode or a sports mode based on a personal driving tendencyindex of the driver.

In addition, the running mode determining unit 300 reflects theshort-term driving tendency to the optimal running mode based on thelong-term driving tendency of the driver, thereby determining a changedrunning mode according to change of the mood of the driver or suddenchanges in driving intention.

In addition, the running mode determining unit 300 may determine achanged running mode according to a road situation by furtherconsidering a real time road situation in addition to the optimalrunning mode, and for example, may determine various running modes suchas a downtown mode considering the vehicle driving section and a modefor each commuting section.

Meanwhile, a process of determining the driving tendency of the driverand differentiating the feel of shifting, a shift pattern, an enginetorque map, an engine filter, and the like is a very important factor interms of customization of running performance, and the short-termdriving tendency determining unit 220 is suggested as a basicconstituent element to determine the driving tendency, as describedabove.

However, as discussed in the description of the related art, because aspeed of the vehicle of the driver is associated with a speed of theforward vehicle regardless of the driving tendency of the driver whenthe vehicle of the driver follows the forward vehicle running slowly,there is a problem in that it is impossible to recognize the drivingtendency of the driver or an inaccurate determination result isobtained.

Therefore, a short-term driving tendency determining unit including afunction of restricting determination of the short-term driving tendencyis very desirable and a configuration of the short-term driving tendencydetermining unit 220 including a function of restricting determinationof the short-term driving tendency according to various embodiments ofthe present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the configurationof the short-term driving tendency determining unit according to variousembodiments of the present invention. Referring to the accompanying FIG.2, the short-term driving tendency determining unit 220 includes ashort-term driving tendency calculating module 221, and a calculationprohibition control module 222.

The short-term driving tendency calculating module 221 receives an inputvariable for determining the short-term driving tendency of the driverfrom the driving information collecting unit 100, and calculates ashort-term driving tendency index (sporty index) for determining theshort-term driving intention of the driver as an objective numeric valueusing the fuzzy control theory.

Specifically, the short-term driving tendency calculating module 221applies the fuzzy control theory to a vehicle speed and an inter-vehicledistance, and sets at least one membership function for each of thevehicle speed and the inter-vehicle distance. Further, the short-termdriving tendency calculating module 221 calculates the short-termdriving tendency index (e.g., SI=0 to 100%), which is a fuzzy resultvalue, from the membership function of the collected vehicle speed andthe membership function of the collected inter-vehicle distance from theforward vehicle.

Here, a fuzzy rule for determining the driving tendency may be definedas in the following examples. For instance, a state of the inputvariables is defined as and denoted by a “low” state, a “middle” stateor a “high” state due to characteristics of fuzzy control, but is notlimited thereto.

Based on the membership function of the inter-vehicle distance betweenthe vehicle of the driver and the forward vehicle and the membershipfunction of the vehicle speed, when the vehicle speed is “low” (e.g.,equal to or less than a first predetermined speed) and the inter-vehicledistance is “high” (e.g., equal to or greater than a first predetermineddistance), the short-term driving tendency calculating module 221 maydetermine that the driver has a mild driving tendency. In contrast, whenthe vehicle speed is “high” (e.g., greater than a second predeterminedvehicle speed) and the inter-vehicle distance is “low” (e.g., less thana second predetermined distance), the short-term driving tendencycalculating module 221 may determine that the driver has a sportydriving tendency.

That is, it may be determined that the driver, who maintains a largeinter-vehicle distance from the forward vehicle and has a defensivedriving pattern, has the mild driving tendency, and the driver, whomaintains a small inter-vehicle distance from the forward vehicle andhas an aggressive driving pattern, has the sporty driving tendency.

Meanwhile, the calculation prohibition control module 222 checks theinter-vehicle distance between the vehicle that is driven by the driverand the forward vehicle, and prohibits calculation of the short-termdriving tendency of the driver under a condition in which theinter-vehicle distance is equal to or less than a predeterminedreference value.

The calculation prohibition control module 222 sets an inter-vehicledistance reference map in which the predetermined reference valueincreases proportionally to a vehicle speed, determines an inter-vehicledistance condition for each vehicle speed, and transmits a calculationprohibition request signal to the short-term driving tendencycalculating module 221 when the inter-vehicle distance satisfies acondition in which the inter-vehicle distance is equal to or less thanthe predetermined reference value (a short-term driving tendencycalculation prohibition condition).

That is, the calculation prohibition control module 222 sets aninter-vehicle distance reference for prohibiting determination of theshort-term driving tendency to be associated with the vehicle speed, andsets an inter-vehicle distance reference for prohibiting calculation tobe proportionally increased as the vehicle speed is increased.

Therefore, there are advantages in that inaccurate noise elements may bereduced and a more accurate short-term driving tendency of the drivermay be obtained by differentiating states of a low speed congested roadand a high speed driving road from each other.

Meanwhile, a method of restricting determination of the short-termdriving tendency of the driver based on the configuration of theshort-term driving tendency determining unit 220 according to variousembodiments of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of restricting determinationthe short-term driving tendency according to various embodiments of thepresent invention. Referring to the accompanying FIG. 3, the short-termdriving tendency determining unit 220 initiates calculation of theshort-term driving tendency when an accumulated running time or runningdistance reaches a predetermined condition for initiating thecalculation of the short-term driving tendency index after the vehicleof the driver is started (S10; Yes).

In this case, the short-term driving tendency determining unit 220 mayset a condition for initiating determination of the short-term drivingtendency for a current running time (and/or distance) or for apredetermined time (and/or distance) while the vehicle currently runs,and initiate the determination of the short-term driving tendency of thedriver in real time when the corresponding condition is satisfied.

The short-term driving tendency determining unit 220 receives the inputvariables for determining the short-term driving tendency of the driverfrom the driving information collecting unit 100 (S20), and detects theinter-vehicle distance from the forward vehicle from the input variables(S30). The short-term driving tendency determining unit 220 determineswhether the short-term driving tendency index calculation prohibitioncondition, in which the inter-vehicle distance from the forward vehicleis equal to or less than the predetermined reference value, is satisfied(S40).

In this case, the short-term driving tendency determining unit 220 mayfurther detect the present vehicle speed as well as the inter-vehicledistance as the input variable, determine the inter-vehicle distancecondition for each vehicle speed based on the inter-vehicle distancereference map, and determine whether the inter-vehicle distancesatisfies the short-term driving tendency calculation prohibitioncondition in which the inter-vehicle distance is equal to or less thanthe predetermined reference value.

When the inter-vehicle distance from the forward vehicle satisfies theshort-term driving tendency index calculation prohibition condition(S50: Yes), the short-term driving tendency determining unit 220prohibits calculation of the short-term driving tendency index of thedriver and is returned (S60).

In contrast, in step S50, when the inter-vehicle distance from theforward vehicle is greater than the predetermined reference value anddoes not satisfy the short-term driving tendency calculation prohibitioncondition (S50: No), the short-term driving tendency determining unit220 performs calculation of the short-term driving tendency index of thedriver and is returned (S70).

In this case, the driving tendency determining unit 220 may calculatethe fuzzy result value from the membership function of the vehicle speedand the membership function of the inter-vehicle distance from theforward vehicle, so as to calculate the short-term driving tendencyindex (SI=0 to 100%) that corresponds to the mild or sporty drivingtendency.

As such, according to various embodiments of the present invention, byprohibiting calculation of the short-term driving tendency of the driverunder a condition in which the inter-vehicle distance is equal to orless than a specific inter-vehicle distance that is set for each vehiclespeed, there is an effect in that it is possible to prevent aninaccurate driving tendency determination in a situation in which aspeed of the vehicle of the driver is associated with a speed of theforward vehicle.

In addition, since the inter-vehicle distance reference for prohibitingthe calculation is set to be larger as the vehicle speed becomes higher,e.g., proportionally to the vehicle speed, there is an effect in that amore accurate short-term driving tendency of the driver may be obtainedby differentiating states of a low-speed congested road and a high-speeddriving road from each other.

In addition, since the vehicle driving tendency of the driver isrecognized based on the driving information of the driver, and thecustomized running mode, which coincides with the driving tendency ofthe individual driver, is provided, it is possible to expect effects ofenhance emotional values of the customer and improving a corporateimage.

While the exemplary embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed, the present invention is not limited to the aforementionedexemplary embodiments, and other various modifications may be made. Forexample, while the exemplary embodiment of the present inventionillustrated in FIG. 2 describes that the calculation prohibition controlmodule 222 prohibits calculation of the short-term driving tendencyindex using a vehicle speed condition and an inter-vehicle distancecondition, the present invention is not limited thereto, and thecalculation prohibition control module 222 may prohibit the calculationof the short-term driving tendency index in accordance with a roadcondition.

That is, a road condition with respect to a specific road state such asa snowy road, an icy road, a rough road (for example, a predeterminedcurved road or a predetermined slope road on a navigation map), a foggyroad, and an unpaved road is set, and when a real time road statesatisfies the road condition with respect to the specific road state,the calculation prohibition control module 222 may prohibit calculationof the short-term driving tendency index in conjunction with the realtime road condition determining unit 230.

In addition, by applying the aforementioned short-time calculationprohibition control according to the inter-vehicle distance and the roadcondition to the long-term driving tendency determining unit 210, thecalculation prohibition control module 222 may prevent inaccuratedriving tendency determination information from being reflected whendetermining an optimal running mode based on the long-term drivingtendency.

The exemplary embodiments of the present invention are not implementedonly by the apparatus and/or method described above, but may also beimplemented by a program for realizing a function corresponding to theconfiguration of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, andrecording media on which the program is recorded, and the implementationmay be easily made from the disclosure of the exemplary embodimentsdescribed above by a skill in the art to which the present inventionpertains.

The foregoing descriptions of specific exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention have been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteachings. The exemplary embodiments were chosen and described in orderto explain certain principles of the invention and their practicalapplication, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to make andutilize various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, as wellas various alternatives and modifications thereof. It is intended thatthe scope of the invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto andtheir equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for determining a short-term drivingtendency of a driver driving a vehicle, comprising: a drivinginformation collecting unit configured to collect driving informationincluding a vehicle speed, and an inter-vehicle distance between thevehicle of the driver and a forward vehicle; a short-term drivingtendency calculating module configured to receive a plurality of inputvariables for determining the short-term driving tendency and calculatea short-term driving tendency index using a fuzzy control theory; and acalculation prohibition control module configured to check theinter-vehicle distance between the vehicle of the driver and the forwardvehicle and prohibit calculation of the short-term driving tendencyindex when the inter-vehicle distance is equal to or less than apredetermined reference value.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thecalculation prohibition control module: sets an inter-vehicle distancereference map in which the predetermined reference value increasesproportionally to the vehicle speed, determines an inter-vehicledistance condition for the vehicle speed, and transmits a calculationprohibition request signal to the short-term driving tendencycalculating module when the inter-vehicle distance condition issatisfied in which the inter-vehicle distance is equal to or less thanthe predetermined reference value.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe driving information further includes at least one of vehicleacceleration according to driving the vehicle by the driver, anaccelerator pedal position, a brake pedal position, a shift-speed, asteering state of the vehicle, position information based on a GPS/GIS,road information, a degree of congestion of a driving section, andweather information.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the short-termdriving tendency calculating module: applies the fuzzy control theory tothe vehicle speed and the inter-vehicle distance, sets at least onemembership function for each of the vehicle speed and the inter-vehicledistance, and calculates the short-term driving tendency index, which isa fuzzy result value, from the membership function of the inputtedvehicle speed and the inputted inter-vehicle distance.
 5. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the short-term driving tendency calculating module,based on a membership function of the inter-vehicle distance between thevehicle of the driver and the forward vehicle and a membership functionof the vehicle speed, determines that the driver has a mild drivingtendency when the vehicle speed is equal to or less than a firstpredetermined vehicle speed and the inter-vehicle distance is equal toor greater than a first predetermined distance, and determines that thedriver has a sporty driving tendency when the vehicle speed is greaterthan a second predetermined vehicle speed and the inter-vehicle distanceis less than a second predetermined distance.
 6. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the calculation prohibition control module prohibitscalculation of the short-term driving tendency index when a road onwhich the vehicle runs is in a specific road state.
 7. A method ofdetermining a short-term driving tendency of a driver driving a vehicle,comprising: receiving a plurality of input variables for determining theshort-term driving tendency and detecting an inter-vehicle distancebetween the vehicle of the driver and a forward vehicle from theplurality of input variables; determining whether the inter-vehicledistance satisfies a short-term driving tendency index calculationprohibition condition in which the inter-vehicle distance is equal to orless than a predetermined reference value; and prohibiting calculationof a short-term driving tendency index of the driver when theinter-vehicle distance satisfies the short-term driving tendency indexcalculation prohibition condition.
 8. The method of claim 7, furthercomprising: detecting a vehicle speed from the plurality of inputvariables, wherein the predetermined reference value increasesproportionally to the vehicle speed.
 9. The method of claim 7, furthercomprising: initiating, prior to the detecting of the inter-vehicledistance, calculation of the short-term driving tendency index when anaccumulated running time or running distance reaches a predeterminedcondition for initiating the calculation of the short-term drivingtendency index after the vehicle is started.
 10. The method of claim 7,further comprising: calculating the short-term driving tendency index ofthe driver when the inter-vehicle distance does not satisfy theshort-term driving tendency calculation prohibition condition, whereinthe calculating of the short-term driving tendency index, whichcorresponds to a mild or sporty driving tendency, is conducted bycalculating a fuzzy result value from at least one membership functionfor each of the vehicle speed and the inter-vehicle distance from theforward vehicle.
 11. A method of determining a short-term drivingtendency of a driver driving a vehicle, comprising: receiving aplurality of input variables for determining the short-term drivingtendency and detecting road information according to a vehicle positionfrom the plurality of input variables; determining, based on the roadinformation, whether a load is in a specific road state for prohibitingcalculation of a short-term driving tendency index; and prohibiting thecalculation of the short-term driving tendency index of the driver whenthe road is in the specific road state.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein the specific road state includes at least one of a snowy road,an icy road, a predetermined curved road, a predetermined slope road, afoggy road, and an unpaved road.